Title: Hand of Glory
Author: Kate Cotoner
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: M/M contemporary romance, mystery
Length: 89 pages
Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5
A guest review by Jenre
Summary Review
A interesting British set mystery which had too many inconsistencies in the character of the priest hero for me to wholly enjoy it as much as I might.
THE BLURB
Ethan Heng has come to the little English village of Hepplewick to investigate his family heritage. A misunderstanding over some church brasses leads to lunch with Matthew Jennings, the attractive young vicar, but soon the two men are plunged into a five hundred-year-old mystery when a Hand of Glory is discovered in the walls of the local pub.
Ethan and Matt discover clues left by the Hand’s original owner, Abbot Fosbroke, who was executed for satanic practices and theft. Local lore states that Fosbroke’s treasure is still waiting to be found, though generations have searched for it in vain. While Matt battles with demons from his past, Ethan urges him to rebuild his life and live for the moment. Their happiness, and the good of the village community, is entangled with the mystery of Fosbroke’s treasure, and only the Hand of Glory can point the way..
THE REVIEW
I picked up this book because I’ve enjoyed Kate Cotoner’s stories before and the setting of a British village caught my eye. I was also intrigued in that one of the characters is an Anglican priest and I wanted to see how that would work within the context of an m/m romance. In the end, that aspect was the weakest part of the story, leading to a great deal of frustration on my part.
Ethan is a tourist who is visiting England looking at architectural sites. He arrives in the Yorkshire village of Hepplewick to see where his British mother was born and raised before she moved to China and married his Chinese father. Whilst looking at the church he meets Anglican priest Matthew and is surprised at the spark of attraction between them. They go to the village pub for a drink and whilst there a grisly discovery of a ‘hand of glory’ is uncovered in the walls of an upstairs room which is being renovated. This sets off a chain of events within the small village as the hand could provide a clue to the hidden treasure of a previous Abbott.
Let’s start with some of the things I liked about this novella. Firstly I really liked the setting of a small Yorkshire village. Even more thrilling for me is that the village is near the town of Skipton, which happens to be near to where I live too. It’s not often that I get to recognise a setting and I greatly enjoyed being able to have an accurate picture in my head as the characters move round Skipton, or their village which, although fictional, is very close in description to many of the little Yorkshire villages near my home. I also liked the mix of the villagers – from the bluff landlord with a heart of gold and a cheery mien, to the poisonous old woman who throws a spanner in the works at every opportunity. The sense of village unity and camaraderie, with its gossip and superstition was also described accurately.
I also liked the character of Ethan. He deals quite cheerfully with the casual ignorance of the villagers when faced with his nationality, and I winced a few times at some of the remarks thrown his way, and also when the pub goes deadly silent when he walks in. I also liked how, once it was generally known that he was the daughter of a former villager, the village adopts him and makes him feel welcome. We aren’t given a lot about Ethan’s background, just the pressure he feels from his father and the love he feels from his mother but it was enough to make him a sympathetic character. Matthew, too had my sympathy at the beginning of the novel, and I felt sorry that some of the bad choices that he has made in life haunt him still.
The mystery was another strong point, being a mix of slightly grizzly and macabre in the discovery of the hand, and good old fashioned puzzling out the clues before the reveal. I thought the author had done a good job in leading us through the clues and the red herrings before a satisfying conclusion.
In fact the only part of the book which didn’t sit well with me was the way Matthew’s vocation is portrayed in the story. In the Church of England gay men can join the priesthood but, just like a single heterosexual priest, they are expected to remain celibate as Anglicanism celebrates sex within marriage only. Matthew represents the church and should therefore have a measure of responsibility if he is to be a positive role model for his congregation. This meant that I didn’t feel that the way that Matthew jumps into bed with Ethan so readily, without any visible forethought or guilt, was rather unrealistic. I would have at least expected him to feel a measure of concern about how his behaviour reflects on his vocation as a man of God, but no, he has sex several times with Ethan and even makes it generally known to some of his friends within the village that it is happening. Also Matthew never prays, never reads the bible and never thinks about God – he refers to his faith in only the most general of terms. The only ‘work’ that Matthew does during the few days the books is set is to finish up his sermon and preach it on Sunday – again a completely unrealistic portrayal of the life of a Parish priest. As you can gather this whole thing made me rather cross. I couldn’t see why the author made Matthew a priest at all because there was certainly nothing about his character which made him morally different to, say, the village doctor, or school teacher. There’s much more to being a priest than being ‘a good man’ and I thought it a shame and a missed opportunity that more hadn’t been made of Matthew’s vocation. This part of the book annoyed me so much that I’ve knocked down the grade into the three stars. However, if you are the sort of reader who wouldn’t be bothered about this, then this would probably be a four star read for you.
Overall, I enjoyed the mystery, the secondary characters and the setting. As I’ve said, the portrayal of the Parish priest was the books weakest point, but if you like an unusual mystery then this book will be for you.
Oh yes, the unrealistic portrait of the priest would SERIOUSLY annoy me, speaking with my church-going anglican AND m/m writer hats on! Goodness knows there’s enough easy research outlets to do with this issue that it’s odd it’s been done so inadequately here. Even asking any local UK priest (gay or not) would give you a ton of material to base the character on. Mind you, any priest of my acquaintance would absolutely LONG to have nothing to do but write the odd sermon and preach it – in their dreams!! And of course the likelihood of any priest being able to have sex at all of any variety is very slim, as at every minute of the day someone is knocking at their door or ringing them … 🙂 They have to be quick!
Shame then, and I suspect I’ll have to pass …
Axxx
Hi Anne
That’s exactly it. I wasn’t sure about the rules for gay priests so I Googled it and within 5 mins had all the info I needed.
I also thought it was strange that Matthew is only in charge of the village church, since nearly all rural churches in Yorkshire are run in clusters with one vicar for 3-4 village churches. The village in the story must be very large with an unusually large congregation for Matthew to have escaped from that sort of stipend.
Matthew does get interrupted with Ethan quite a lot, not to do with Parish business though – more to do with emergencies than the day to day nitty gritty of the poor downtrodden vicar.
As someone who is totally clueless about such things (having been quasi-raised in one of the most liberal churches in Canada) I probably wouldn’t have found it odd (I did buy this, but haven’t read it yet, because of the unusual setting). So the things you have insider knowledge of and found annoying will likely fly right over my head. (Just don’t get me started if they decide to up and move to Argentina though on a whim, with no immigrations papers, visas or planning. LOL)
Sounds like a decent portrayal of an environment I’m unfamiliar with so that will be fun for me to experience through the book. Great review.
Hi Tam
If the vicar thing doesn’t bother you, or just goes over your head then I think you’ll like this. To be honest I think most readers, especially those from countries other than Britain, won’t see the problems that I have with the story.
That unrealistic portrayal of the priest probably makes this a “don’t buy” for me…
Hi Chris
It’s a shame in a way cos the mystery and setting really are very unusual and well written.
Without having read Hand of Glory yet, I have to say, OMG, Jen! It looks like you and I really ARE the same reviewer — clones of each other, who somehow ended up on different continents. 😀
I mean, not only did I finish nodding in recognition over this passage,
Even more thrilling for me is that the village is near the town of Skipton, which happens to be near to where I live too. It’s not often that I get to recognise a setting and I greatly enjoyed being able to have an accurate picture in my head as the characters move round Skipton …
and I’m thinking, “Isn’t that great when that happens? I don’t often get the southwestern USA either as a setting, and I love it when that happens,” and then I reach this part in your review:
The only ‘work’ that Matthew does … is to finish up his sermon and preach it on Sunday – again a completely unrealistic portrayal of the life of a Parish priest. … There’s much more to being a priest than being ‘a good man’ and I thought it a shame and a missed opportunity that more hadn’t been made of Matthew’s vocation.
and I thought, OMG, yes! Details of profession are so important!
From what I’ve seen (not knowing a whole lot since I was raised by atheists), the clergy are administrative professionals who have to do counseling, fund-raising, research (on sermons), community work, supervision of staff, and interacting with the church hierarchy on all levels, and other things I don’t know about. It’s not just writing sermons and delivering them on Sunday.
And all that doesn’t even touch upon a priest’s commitment to his faith and thoughts about his vocation and what he is allowed to do and not do, as you’ve pointed out.
Wow, talk about reviewer mind-meld! (I’ve also enjoyed the author’s previous fiction, and am looking forward to reading the book!) Great review, Jen! 🙂
Thanks, Val :).
It really is quite eerie how we think alike quite a lot of the time. Separated at birth?
You are right details of a characters profession are important, especially if that profession is something as controversial as a parish priest.
You’re very welcome. Separated at birth?, ha, ha! Reviewer mind-meld never fails to intrigue me.
Gah! I read your summary and thought “what inconsistenices would they be then?” It didn’t even cross my mind that it might be a lack of research about what a priest/vicar does! It seems almost like a wasted opportunity as well, which is a shame, especially given what I’ve been hearing recently about the current debate where some priests are arguing the case for religious content e.g. hymns etc. to be allowed in civil partnership ceremonies. I mean, having a C of E / C in W (though I’m guessing, being Yorkshire, it’d be C of E) priest as a character should open up so many avenues… *sigh*
I agree, Tiggothy. There was so much that could have been addressed here, even in an understated way, about how the good ole CofE approaches homosexuality. The fact that it was brushed under the carpet was rather irritating.
This is a real shame, because I fell in love with the two stories by this author that I have read and was ready to buy anything else written by her, but priest feels seriously under researched, so I have to think about that. Thank you for the review.
Hi Sirius
I’ve really liked this author’s previous stories too. This one was still good in terms of written style, just not so great on the subject of Matthew’s calling.